Critical Thinking Homework 7 	Name ___________________Class # _______

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument in each pair, and indicate the problem with that argument.

1. Annabelle. I really don't see any reason to assume that Saddam Hussein and Al Queda were not allies before the Iraq invasion. In fact, I think that they were working closely together!
Octavio. But what about the fact that Al Qaeda is a group of religious extremists sworn to destroy secular governments like Hussein's and the fact that Hussein vigorously persecuted Islamicists like Al Qaeda whenever he could reach them?

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument.

Annabelle		Octavio

Circle the name of the fallacy committed by that person.

False Choice     Empty Explanation     Suppressed Evidence

2. Lamont. Scientists are still baffled by the precise cause of lightning. They've been observing thunderstorms and lightning discharges for decades, and they still can't come up with a plausible physical process that fully accounts for all the features of lightning.
Graciela. They can't be very good scientists, because obviously lightning happens because electricity in the thunderclouds suddenly jumps down to the ground.

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument.

Lamont		Graciela

Circle the name of the fallacy committed by that person.

False Choice     Empty Explanation     Suppressed Evidence

3. Robyn. It's simply not true that there is no evidence connecting Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda. Yes, the story of the meeting in Vienna has been decisively discredited, but the fact remains that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda had a common enemy in the United States! 
Cedric. Um, isn't it possible that Saddam and Al became enemies of the United States for independent and totally unrelated reasons? 

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument.

Robyn		Cedric

Circle the name of the fallacy committed by that person.

False Choice     Empty Explanation     Suppressed Evidence

4. Frankie. I can't believe that people think that chimps can learn sign language. It's obvious that all this "language use" is just chimps imitating the dumb humans who keep trying to teach them sign language. 
Jalyn. Hey, those chimps have conversations with those humans, and they use sign language to give information, answer questions, and ask for things!

Circle the name of the person who gives the weaker argument.

Frankie	Jalyn

Circle the name of the fallacy committed by that person.

False Choice     Empty Explanation     Suppressed Evidence